Negatize
by Skylark Evanson
Summary: When you're tiny, there's only one person who can help. If you can find him. If you survive him.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So here's the new Ben 10 story I'm doing. Mentoria, I apologize for the severe delay. My life just got kind of hectic. Now that it's cooling down and for the hype of this coming Friday, it's getting posted and it's gonna be awesome. Promise.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, idea's by Mentoria, and I am writing it. So yay!**

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><p>It was like the Negative 10 had reformed all over again. Some old members were back, Charmcaster and Rojo to name a few. Enoch was there because, duh, he's Enoch. Kevin was keeping him and Vulkanus busy outside with a little help from Manny. The two made a pretty great team when hey weren't trying to bite each others' heads off.<p>

Gwen was outside as well, her mana warding off a few Highbreeds still angry over the results of the war and some of Charmcaster's golems. She was holding her own after picking up a few extra tricks from Verdona over he past few months.

Ben was taming a pack of baddies with Alan and Tetrax at his sides. He'd called in his own team once he'd seen that they were all trying to team up again. Zombozo was hanging around as were Vilgax and Clancy. He still wasn't sure how they all got together to form this pack, but he had his own crew and none of them were afraid to fight back.

EchoEchos lined the walls, soundwaves imprisoning Charmcaster, Darkstar, and Rojo, the three almost-humans unable to fight back against the sound of the high-pitched screams. Charmcaster was trying to fish around in her bag of tricks for some sort of weapon while Darkstar absorbed any EchoEcho he could, darkness flowing from his hands to zap the little silicon creatures out of existence.

Keeping Ghostfreak at bay was what Tetrax and Alan were busy with. A wall of crystals had been put up around him to refract the light Alan's fiery powers gave off. The ectonurite wasn't being killed, but he couldn't phase through anything, couldn't move, just screamed in pain.

Finally, a weapon was drawn from Charmcaster's bag, little flowers turned shurikens. She grasped a small handful of the little tools and tossed them towards the screaming beasts, hoping at least a few of them would shut up. All the noise ricocheting off the walls of the tiny chamber... So high-pitched, so painful...

Multiple pairs of green eyes widened. A few little EchoEchos cried out and dodged, covering their heads and protecting their butts. Many fell, cowering.

The screaming did stop and both Rojo and Charmcaster had a moment of relief from the endless screech of Ben's loudest alien.

And one little EchoEcho pushed himself up. His hand hit a button.

Whirring overhead. A flash of blue light. The grinding of bones as they deteriorated. The groans of shrinking joints and limbs. A few cries of surprise and shock.

Until Ben was the only one left in the room, all of his duplicates lining the wall, just outside the ring that lay planted on the floor as a warning barrier. He peered from side to side, looking for any signs of where his attackers could have vanished to, where Alan and Tetrax could have gone.

An empty room. Lights fading. The whirring sound gone. The sound of voices outside.

"Ben! Little help here!" came Kevin's hoarse voice that was cut off from forming another sentence by a punch that collided with his cheekbone.

Ben gave one last look but decided he had to shrug it off for now. Things like this could be dealt with later. Gwen and Kevin needed his help _now_.

He'd search again after the battle was over. After they'd won.

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><p><strong>AN: Just a prologue sort of chapter. Review so I can post again soon!**

**~Sky**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: The next chapter will be longer. I just need to get the bare bones out here, but when I get the actual plot scripted, that's when we'll get into the fun part. Patience please.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own. Idea by Mentoria.**

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><p>When the grinding of toothpick-sized bones had ended, they looked up to see the gray clouds overhead looking twice as big as they had been before, maybe even bigger. Nothing had changed around them. Nothing had grown, nothing had been altered.<p>

They had shrunk.

Night encompassed the six as they sat up and coughed the thick dust out of their lungs. Brown clouds puffed out of their breath. Grains of the same brown clung to their clothing as they all rose to their feet, with the exception of Ghostfreak, who rose to float above the ground.

"What-" A cough. "-was that?" asked Darkstar, more brown clouds coming out of him as he coughed all the dust out of his tiny lungs. His helmet had been lost in the fall and had been flung to one side. His mutilated face and sunken eyes were shied away from as the others came to.

"We've been shrunk, you fool," hissed Ghostfreak, white and black striped claws unsheathing themselves further as a thick river of rage coursed through his phantom-like body of fear. "That machine, what we were after, was all that could take down his greatest alien."

"Way Big," came Tetrax's interjection as he stepped into this group. He felt like he should be fighting them, but given the current situation, fighting them would only result in complete and utter destruction. "You would've had to shrink Way Big to ever stand a chance."

Snarling, Ghostfreak's single purple eye glared out at Tetrax and the small African-American boy that stood beside him. He thought he saw the boy cringe. Somewhat satisfied, the phantom stepped down, letting the river run it's course and calm once more to gentle waves rather than raging torrents.

"Exactly." Charmcaster's voice was the next to break in although her deep violet eyes were watching Rojo pull herself up off the ground in her heavy metal armor. "We needed it to beat him once and for all." Despite the fact that Charmcaster's endgame was defeating Gwen Tennyson, she figured that taking out the brat's cousin would even the odds of her own playing field.

"But now we're small," commented Alan, voice small I comparison to the loudness of the others around him, the ones who had spoken. "So it defeats the entire purpose."

A sneer, a scowl, a stare, and a snarl were all thrown his way.

Alan quickly got quiet.

"And what do we plan on doing about this situation?" asked Darkstar, sunken eyes finding Charmcaster and Rojo, the two he would work with if it came to it. Them rather than Ghostfreak, no question. "We can't stay like this forever, obviously. We'll be crushed and trampled." He groped for his helmet, almost desperate to cover his face. The absence of hair and the unsightly wrinkles made him positively hideous.

No one said anything. Alan looked to the control panel he'd seen the initial glow come from, but said nothing. No one else had any ideas. Until Tetrax spoke up, the most experienced fighter of them all after playing minion to Vilgax and trying to capture Ben back when he was just a child. The Petrosapien said, "Let's find Ben and have him change us back. Surely there must be an alien in his Ultimatrix that can do that."

Villains looked to heroes and heroes looked to villains. No one argued. No one agreed.

"Let's do it," said Rojo, nice and loud to make sure her voice was heard. She slapped her hands together and brushed the dust off her fingers. "Can't hurt to try." She looked to the others for any arguments. It was all she could expect when working with this group.

No one said a word.

Tetrax led the way towards the hole that Ben had made in the wall when exiting as Wildmutt. Using a ramp of taedenite (courtesy of Tetrax), the group made their way over the lower portion of wall that remained intact. A platform of magic led the way down into the grass that looked more like skyscrapers.

But Ghostfreak had noticed one thing before floating down into the grass. "Ben isn't here."

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><p><strong>AN: Longer soon, I promise. Review please?**

**~Sky**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: My computer is being frustrating. Family is even more frustrating. Turns out, my grandparents aren't leaving until after my birthday. Just peachy -_-' As if dealing with them by myself for a week wasn't enough to drive me up a wall…**

**Disclaimer: Idea by Mentoria, written by Skylark Evanson, characters by MOA.**

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><p>"Well that's just great!" complained Charmcaster as only girls could, voice whiny and angry, eyes dark, lips scowling fiercely. She looked to the night sky and traced the outlines of constellations her Uncle Hex had taught her about so many years ago. "He's gone!" Rage rolled off of her in waves, frustration making her hands into fists.<p>

Tetrax said nothing; he waited patiently for the younger people in this group to settle down before proposing his plan. He knew teenagers. He'd worked with Ben and his team plenty of times before to understand the angst levels.

"Stupid Tennyson," hissed the twenty-eight-year-old Rojo through gritted , giving the ground at her feet a swift kick. One hand covered in a Kevlar glove ran through her long, wild red mane. "That kid'll get it when I get my hands on him." That same Kevlar glove, in the shape of a fist, slammed her scarred knuckles into the palm of her other hand.

Darkstar was quiet. Besides being hungry, he was tired and frustrated with this whole situation. Just the thought of having to work with this group of ragtag imbeciles made him want to kill himself. Then there was the issue of being restored back to their normal size on top of regular issues like survival...

Alan was panicking. He wasn't always very stable to begin with on an emotional level. Fear was one of his best friend's, as were Panic, Shyness, and Quiet. Then bring in some of Ben's mortal enemies and try to survive alongside those who want to kill him and all he stands for... This was not looking good for the young Pyronite.

"Let's see what we're up against," snarled Ghostfreak, the phantom floating higher to be just above the emerald blades of grass that formed a forest around them. His purple eye, moving through the lines in his body, scanned their surroundings of grass, moonlight, and shadows. There was no sign of Ben.

"How does it look?" Tetrax called up. He could only hope someone in this crew could track fairly well. The Petrosapien generally knew the powers and limitations of these individuals, but there were always secrets to be told and things to be unveiled. Especially behind the masks of villains such as these.

The spirit floated back down, his white form growing silvery as moonlight seemingly washed through him. "We seem to be in a patch of grass for now. There is a fence about two miles due east. That should lead out of this laboratory space and towards a road of some sort."

"I can track them," breathed Charmcaster, eyes closed and two fingers pressed to her right temple. A headache seared her skull like a grenade had just gone off in her brain. "I just need something that would carry a heavy trace of them on it."

Eyes flitted to one another. No one had anything.

Darkstar was the first to speak up after a hopeless silence. "I do have some of Gwen's mana," said the starved killer. Beady eyes watched from behind the slits of the mask. "It's stored inside of me and may carry my own signature quite heavily-"

"-but it was directly created with Gwen," continued Charmcaster, now feeling not completely useless. Just the grass stretching up like a skyscraper was making her feel tiny and worthless. "Using that as a guide, I should be able to track her from the energy in you..." She pressed her hands together, shut her eyes, and stood perfectly still while her lips formed words. "Emina ecart!"

A bow of pink light shot from her hands and directly into Michael. It slammed into his chest and shoved him back a few feet before he could regain his balance. For a second, he nearly shielded himself with his dark energy; that urge gave way to a longing to take all of this power she was using for his own.

The bow ripped right out of him just as fast. It warped back to Charmcaster's fingers just as quickly as it had left, the pink swirling at her fingertips for a heartbeat before evaporating into thin air. "I've got a lock on her," said the silver-haired sorceress, looking to the others around her with an almost devious smile on her face. Her body relaxed, tension fading like shadows at dawn. "Now we just need to find a way to get there."

Reluctantly, Tetrax pulled his hoverboard out of the small pocket upon his belt, the small stick morphing out into the board that levitated only a foot or so off the dusty ground. "I can fly, as can Alan."

As if on cue, Alan burst into flames, the fire consuming him and morphing his body into molten rocks, red-hot from the blaze that burned his stone flesh.

Ghostfreak, already a few feet off the ground, looked to the others: Rojo, Charmcaster, and Darkstar. If they were getting anywhere, they'd need these three in their arsenal. Each was a formidable enemy to Ben 10.

Michael was in the air soon after. He was glad all those school girls hadn't stripped him of his power of flight.

Charmcaster looked to Rojo. Rojo looked to Charmcaster. The sorceress spoke up first. "I can conjure something up." Her fingers immediately felt for her bag.

Missing.

"Or not," she snarled, remembering how that redheaded little brat had stolen it from her in the fight. Gwen Tennyson was going to pay as soon as Charmcaster got her hands on her. The brat was going to die by her hand, she swore to it.

"Here." Sparkling black created two individual platforms beside the girls of the group. "It's harmless." His voice was cold through the helmet despite the fact that he was truly trying to help. Even he knew the gravity of their situation. Being this small, about a quarter of the size of a corn kernel, would get them killed quickly if they didn't work together.

Rojo, quick to trust, stepped on hers. Charmcaster was on her own soon after, albeit more reluctant about it. She knew what he was capable of. It was almost scary.

"Which way?" questioned Tetrax, trying to take the lead so that Ghostfreak could not have it. That phantom in charge would be the equivalent of Hitler rising again. He stepped on his board and moved to what he considered the head of the group, Alan staying in the back where the stony warrior had left him.

"Northeast." Charmcaster's voice was confident.

It was Rojo that pointed in the right direction after a quick check of the stars. "That way," she said, finger directing the crew away from the building that had shrunk them and away from the patch of grass.

"Then let us go," breathed Ghostfreak, the first to head to where Rojo was pointing. There was an urgency in the way he moved, the way he watched the horizon carefully, almost fearfully.

This would be a long journey. For everyone else.

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><p><strong>AN: Review?**

**~Sky**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Here's my update.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own.**

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><p>Dawn hung on the horizon, gold and orange touching the purple-tinted sky with long yellow fingers. Stars were fading away, and the moon was a mere silver shadow in the sky, vanishing quickly.<p>

"We must find shelter." Ghostfreak's gravelly voice was the first anyone had heard in a few hours. After organizing directions and flight abilities, it'd gone silent as a graveyard in the group of good and evil. His violet eye watched the violet sky grow light. The sun was due soon.

"We've only been on the move for-" Rojo checked her wrist; there was no watch there, but it gave her a moment to calculate the time in her head. "A few hours. Four or five, tops." Her red hair was glowing slightly as the sun began to peek out of hiding.

Shadows began to stretch out on the ground around them. Ghostfreak floated in the darkness of one, aware of how vulnerable he was.

"We can keep moving until about noon. Flying shouldn't take too much energy." Tetrax had spoken up, the main voice when no one else said anything. "You can go with Rojo and Charmcaster if it'd be easier."

The sun continued to rise. They had made it across three streets and into a park somewhere, following the lead of Charmcaster who still held the energy signature and cardinal directions given by Rojo to specify. They were still at least a day's journey away from Gwendolyn Tennyson, not to mention having to find her cousin. The redhead wouldn't know a thing about what happened to them. Ben would at least have a vague idea.

"No, we need to stop." His eye moved through the slit in his body and towards the ever brighter horizon. Gold was sparkling in the air. "Now." He had to hunker down and hide. Fast.

"Come on, ya sissy," spat Rojo. She shot a look to Darkstar and gave a swift nod, an indication for the energy vampire to pick up the specter if he couldn't carry himself any further. "We got places to go, people to see, things to do."

A black beam spiraled out of Michael's hand and zipped around the spirit's ghostly body. Clenching his hand, the black energy began to move back towards it's controller-

Out of the shadows. Into the daylight. A high-pitched, horrified, blood-curdling, murderous scream pierced the air. Ghostfreak's body curled in on itself and thrashed and grasped at empty air as shocked eyes stared at his writhing, screeching form. Claws sank into the energy beam as he tried to pull himself out of it to no avail. Panic kept him tangible. His shoulders bent at impossible angles and the tail of his ghostly body lashed desperately. He shrieked again, terror consuming his mind. Burning, searing pain scored his pale aura and it was in a puff of gray smoke that the specter disappeared.

All it took was sunlight.

The black beam disappeared. No one said a word. Charmcaster pointed out a direction, Rojo yelled out "Northeast", and the rest of the party followed suit. Like nothing had happened. It was only a reality check.

They would all die on this journey.

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><p><strong>AN: First one to die: Ghostfreak. Review?**

**~Sky**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: No worries, I feel loved when no one reviews. No offense taken. No, really. Sarcasm at first, but I completely understand why no one's reading this: off-base characters. Good if you're delving into characterization, not great if you're throwing them into a plot. I don't care. It's really intriguing to watch unfold in my head. That, and it's a request. I do love my fans.**

**Disclaimer: Idea by Mentoria, written by Skylark Evanson, characters by Man of Action.**

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><p>Tetrax glared, yellow eyes narrowing slightly, and quietly submitted. He knew he was still in charge, just not of the red-haired biker girl. He figured Alan and Charmcaster were still willing to follow him. It was only Darkstar and Rojo he questioned.<p>

Saved by Alan, Tetrax watched as the criminal stalked off in her own direction, heading over to a shady spot before sitting down and tucking her knees to her chest. Rojo fell quiet.

"Water's a little less than a few yards out to the east." His voice was confident for the first time in a long time. "I would try to bring some back, but fire and water don't exactly mix." The flames from around his rocky body disappeared and the small African American boy appeared again, his brown eyes attentive. "What can I do to help?"

Tetrax was watching Charmcaster and Darkstar stand close together, lips not moving, quiet. He already knew where Rojo was. His jaw tightened. "Find something for the vampire to have. A rabbit or a cricket, something along those lines." The Petrosapien didn't want Michael eating one of them rather than some unsuspecting prey. "Wrangle it back here if at all possible. He can drain it, we can eat it." It sounded like a good enough plan in his mind. Good enough to work, at least for a little while.

"Aye aye." Flames engulfing him again from head to toe, Alan cut a rock out of the ground below him with searing hot fire and began to soar off into the pale blue sky.

"How close are we to Gwen?" asked Darkstar, gloved fists clenched tightly. His black eyes were shut. No one would see them behind the metal mask anyways. He almost found it laughable that he was working with the girl who wanted to kill his dearly beloved. Yet they both wanted Kevin Levin out of the picture, strangely enough.

Charmcaster's eyes closed for a moment. "About thirty clicks out," said the silver-haired sorceress. She looked to the sky, doing a quick calculation as ivory clouds passed overhead. "It should take us two more days to get to where she is if we keep moving. Not to mention the fact that she doesn't stay in one place for more than an hour." Fierce frustration billowed off of her like black smoke from a raging fire.

"You should trace her tonight. We should be able to safely assume that she's in bed at night, correct?" He had to try to keep his voice from shaking. He craved energy, any kind, any taste, just energy. Yet he couldn't suck any of this group dry. He didn't know if he'd need them later on. Maybe the witch wouldn't mind if he took just a little, just enough to take the edge off his desperate thirst.

"You're not too bad, Morningstar." She ran her fingers along his sleeve while pulling away, following the sun as a guide to find the water that the fire boy had spoken of.

Tetrax could visibly see the vampire shiver at her touch. He knew the kind. Hungry enough to drain a friend dry when worse came to worse. He knew he would have to keep an eye on Michael.

It was quiet for a long time. Michael had retreated to the shade near Rojo. Tetrax was watching the skies for Alan to come back or for any signs of rain; he thought he could smell it in the air. Earth could be so predictable sometimes.

The the ground started to shake and quake rhythmically. _Boom boom! Boom boom! Boom boom! _Nearby, the swishing of tree-sized grass blades meant that something big was coming. And fast. _Boom boom! Boom boom!_

"That's not an earthquake," hissed Rojo, instantly wishing she had weapons on hand. She had none. An empty machine gun was slung across her back and a broken dagger his in a sheath under her shirt. "It's definitely not an earthquake."

Morningstar, beside her, rose into the air, avoiding the shaking and shivering of the ground below. "Something big." He could see round ears through the grass. Flexing his hands, he waited for an attack, black swirling at his fingertips, waiting to kill.

A mouse surged through the green forest, paws about ready to trod on some of the small people on the ground. They were only about as tall as the mouse's tiny foreleg. Even then, they couldn't clear the beast's shoulder. It nearly crushed Rojo under a massive paw until a ray of black shot out of a gloved hand. A glowing aura of black surrounded the beast and a cry of pain erupted from it, the shrill shriek making both Rojo and Tetrax cover their ears.

Fist clenched now, Darkstar absorbed the power he could, watching the beast that he would normally crush drop like a poisoned bird. Beneath his helmet, his black eyes glistened. Victory reigned.

It writhed, tail lashing, until Darkstar sucked the last of the life out of it, his craving finally satisfied. A long sigh was released as he finally felt his stomach unclench from hunger and the tension in his muscles melt away. "It's a feast for all," he said, voice almost too happy, as he retreated to the shadows to enjoy this newfound comfort of being at full power again. He flexed his fingers and admired how the black light was ready for anything he willed.

Rojo, after watching the vampire move on from his meal, became a vulture, swiping in to pick up another beast's prey. She, with her broken dagger, began to cut away fur to get to the real meat.

Reluctantly, Tetrax stepped in. He knew this would ensure their survival for at least a few more days. This was enough meat for an army considering their size. One of his crystalline hands formed a sword-like saber, and he started cutting away at the dead creature's plush gray fur.

Alan came back minutes later only to see Charmcaster, Tetrax, and Rojo already working through the kill. "I found a mouse..."

His voice was never heard.

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><p><strong>AN: Review this time?**

**~Sky**


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